Cambridge Coincidences Collection

Professor David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University wants to know about your coincidences!

My name is Robert Jamieson and I emigrated from Glasgow to the United States in 1957. I enlisted in the United States Air Force and by 1959 I had attained the rank of Airman Second Class. My parents sent me Scottish newspapers and I read in one of them that a Scot from Ayr had emigrated to the United States and had enlisted in the United States Air Force and was then serving at a USAF base in England and had married an English girl. His name was Robert Jamieson and his rank was Airman Second Class. The gist of the story was that he had crossed the Atlantic twice to meet his future wife.

I was walking my dogs in my local park in Northampton a few years ago when i got into conversation with a lady who i had seen several times,but never really talked to;she was wearing a Grand Canyon sweatshirt,so i said that as a teenager i had often stayed with my couisin in Arizona,and had been there.We got talking about trips to America,and Una (her name!) asked if i had ever been to New York,to which i replied that i had ,and in fact my mother had been born there.I went on to say that as a baby of 3 months she had come over on the Lusitania with her parents and siblings,and that all barring

In the mid 80s I lived in south Birmingham and after the pub my friends and I would walk home past a row of shops and then peel off to our various houses. One day when walking home the public phone box on the row of shops was ringing (this was about 11.30 at night). One of our group decided to answer it for a laugh and when he answered it the call was for him!

I was a pro footballer for Rangers FC. In June 1980 I was sold to Brighton for £440k, I put my house on the market. After a couple of days I got a call from a gentleman with a very polite accent asking if he could come and see my house. He then said his nane was Brighton. I even asked him to spell it and then was firmly of the belief it was one of my Rangers teammates taking the mickey. He asked if he could come the next night to view the property.

At a party miles from home in totally unrelated circumstances got talking to a friend of a friend. Had been in same social group for a while but never really talked to one another. Somehow got talking about school and I asked where he went to school. "A long way from here, you wouldn't know it" he replied, insisting for no good reason that he told me the name it turned out we both went to the same school only four years apart.

Derek
I was in Dusseldorf visiting friends in 1996 when the airport burnt down, so rather than fly home I needed to get a train to Holland. Not speaking German, when I got onto the platform I migrated towards English voices. Coincidentally they happened to be 2 schoolfriends from 20 years previously, over on business. (approx 1500 pupils at the school, 300 per year group, 90 per 'county')

My friend Nick was living in a flat owned by his friend Adam. Adam moved to Bath to study, so I moved into the spare room in his flat. Meanwhile Adam found a room in Bath, and his new landlord was Craig, who was was one of my best friends from University. Very strange!

I was in Dusseldorf visiting friends in 1996 when the airport burnt down, so rather than fly home I needed to get a train to Holland. Not speaking German, when I got onto the platform I migrated towards English voices. Coincidentally they happened to be 2 schoolfriends from 20 years previously, over on business. (approx 1500 pupils at the school, 300 per year group, 90 per 'county')

A few years ago I was shopping at Sainsburys in Bedford and purchased about 5 items including loose bananas ie they had to be weighed, not pre-priced. The bill came to £4.00. Strange? To me it was strange, as I had never before had to pay a round figure for an assortmant of items. I know this must happen but with many items being priced at a figure ending in 99 pence, it did seem odd.
I left the store and drove into the Sainsburys petrol station to fill up. When I opened the filler flap I found that my petrol cap was missing. That had never happened before.

In about August 1983 my family and I were visiting an aunt who lived in Burngate, Dorset right by the RAC Gunnery School. We were awakened on morning early by the sounds of tanks firing. In those days there was an observation post just down from the bungalow and I took my children down there as they wanted to see the tanks shooting. While we were there a young Army captain wandered over and began chatting. He asked my job and I explained I was an officer in the Merchant Navy.